Confused, as usual. Transplanting animations?

[Phaenoh]

Ok, so once again I'm behind schedule with my contest entry. I just started working on it and all of a sudden I realize I've got no idea on how the best way to start is. I need an object to clone from (this question sounds familiar...). I need the effects from the seasons weather machine, and this tutorial (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=145518) makes it seem like I can import effects from other objects. I also need some of the animations from the counterfeiting money maker machine. No idea how to transplant animations. I also need some animations I haven't even found yet, need some button pushing and lever pulling (thinking about looking at the rest of the aspiration rewards though). I don't want this object functioning like anything else in the game, so I don't really have something similar that I know it should be cloned from. I'd prefer something relatively 'clean' so there isn't alot of deleting out I need to do to get started, but I don't want to create extra work for myself by cloning a vase. A pie menu and ...oh! Perhaps the elixer of life would be good. It has a pie menu, and effects, and animation slots... Anything wrong with that idea, like I need to clone the weather machine, or something with my desired animations?

So I guess I'm looking for confirmation on my cloning base and help on how to transplant animations (like should I tick the 'pull animations' box when I make my clone?). Thanks for reading!

[WesHowe]

I don't know answers to all your questions, but while it is useful to "pull animations" in order to see what animations are referenced, there is no reason to leave them in the clone.

This is because you cannot relocate animations from the group 0x1c0532fa. Even if you provide a copy in some other group (like 0x1c050000) it is the game version that gets used. So the only reason to include an animation in a package at all is if the animation has been changed and is designed to either override the original animation (as I did with the "arms at sides" pose for BodyShop) or has a unique name and is designed to be added to the game. In either case, the animation must be in group 0x1c0532fa to be seen by the game engine.

The other pointer I have is that it is the BHAVs that "call" the animation to be used. So you need to modfiy them to call whatever animations you want to use in you object clone. But, animations operate on named joints, so your clone has to have a compatible skeleton.

[Phaenoh]

But, animations operate on named joints, so your clone has to have a compatible skeleton. Ooo, tricky. Does the skeleton matter if I want animations that don't touch the object at all? The money maker has this great rubs hands together with a sinister (albeit goofy) laugh. Then it seems to jump to a turning a crank animation that I don't want. If this is the case, then I should clone the object that has my yet undiscovered button pushing animation to get a compatible skeleton? Or would that still not matter if I don't need the object itself to be animated?